Top 10 Values of 2023

Great wines don’t have to cost a fortune. Even in world-class winegrowing regions such as Champagne, Chianti Classico or the Sonoma Coast, there are outstanding examples to be found at wallet-friendly prices. In fact, every corner of the wine world offers discoveries for bargain hunters, if you know where to look. That’s why, for the third year in a row, we’ve enlisted Wine Spectator’s team of editors to select the top values of the past 12 months. This process of selection homes in on producers whose wines express the distinctive character of a specific region or category while keeping prices down through innovative methods in the vineyard and cellar.

This list of the Top 10 Values of 2023 is capped by our choice for Wine Value of the Year. All of the wines on this list rated 90 points or higher on Wine Spectator’s 100-point scale, cost $40 or less and were made in large enough quantities to be widely available. These selections are meant to encourage exploration, helping you chart new paths through the ever-changing world of wine.

Below our editors profile picks 2 through 10. Read more about the Wine Value of the Year, La Crema Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast 2021.

Vasse Felix’s Filius wine is made from Cabernet grapes sourced from the Margaret River region. (Courtesy of Vasse Felix)

2. VASSE FELIX

Cabernet Sauvignon Margaret River Filius 2021
93 points | $28 | Australia

Margaret River Cabernets are remarkable for their combination of elegant structure and juicy fruit flavors, with the best among them demonstrating a particular finesse. Vasse Felix is a pioneer in the region, commanding more than 50 years of winemaking—and, under the leadership of chief winemaker Virginia Willcock, the wines have never been better. The Filius line of Vasse Felix wines is meant to be approachable while young. For this bottling, Margaret River Cabernet is blended with Malbec from estate vineyards. Willcock employs wild-yeast fermentation in open-top fermenters, resulting in expressive aromatics and soft tannins, followed by 11 months of aging in French oak barrels before blending. When Willcock first started experimenting with indigenous fermentation, what she found was “mind-blowing,” with the wines showing more heart, soul and earth than ever before. “We’re finding that the wines are more naturally sound,” she says. “There is more vibrancy to the fruit.” 15,000 cases imported.—MaryAnn Worobiec

The grapes used for this Sauvignon Blanc are cool-fermented in stainless-steel tanks. (Courtesy of Rapaura Springs)

3. RAPAURA SPRINGS

Sauvignon Blanc Marlborough Reserve 2022
93 points | $19 | New Zealand

New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs have become a go-to source for some of the most consistent expressions of terroir at affordable prices. In the hands of a talented winemaker such as Matt Thomson and a tradition of family-run farming by the founding Neylon and Wiffin families, Rapaura Springs pushes the limits of quality in this category to a new level. Grapes for this wine come from the Dillons Point and Wairau Valley subregions and are immediately pressed after harvest to minimize skin contact (and bitter phenolics). The juice is cool-fermented in stainless steel to preserve the fresh fruit flavors, and Thomson selects a variety of yeast strains to emphasize texture and complexity. Note the symbol on Rapaura Springs’ label: a circle of rocks that represents the spring in the estate vineyard. Water from the snowy mountaintops of the Southern Alps gradually travels beneath the region’s rivers, filtering through bedrock before bubbling back up. 12,000 cases imported.—M.W.

For this bottling, winemaker Tim Jones blended grapes from the winery’s three estate vineyards in the Dundee Hills, Yamhill-Carlton and the Van Duzer Corridor AVAs. (Courtesy of Foley Family Wines)

4. THE FOUR GRACES

Pinot Noir Willamette Valley 2021
92 points | $30 | Oregon

The words “Pinot Noir” and “value” are seldom found in the same sentence, but winemakers in Oregon buck that trend by producing abundant quantities of Pinot blended from vineyards throughout Willamette Valley. The 2021 Four Graces is an excellent example. Winemaker Tim Jones harvested grapes from the winery’s three estate vineyards—Foley Family in Dundee Hills, Doe Ridge in Yamhill-Carlton and Weathergage in the Van Duzer Corridor—and blended in additional fruit from Ribbon Ridge and beyond. The wine was aged for nine months in French oak barrels, 15 percent of which were new. Situated between Newberg and Dundee, Four Graces was founded in 2003 by Paula Marie Black and Steven Black, who named the winery in honor of their four daughters. It has been owned by Foley Family Wines since 2014. 48,000 cases made.—Tim Fish

Volpaia’s Chianti vineyards are at a particularly high elevation of up to 2,000 feet. (Courtesy of Castello di Volpaia)

5. CASTELLO DI VOLPAIA

Chianti Classico 2021
92 points | $30 | Italy

Castello di Volpaia makes several high-end Chianti Classicos, including a riserva along with two single-vineyard gran selezione, yet it’s the 2021 annata that provides an ideal combination of quality and value. This racy version boasts black cherry, blueberry, violet and iron flavors, with firm tannins and flashes of Mediterranean scrub. Volpaia’s high-elevation vineyards in the UGA Radda, ranging from 1,200 to 2,000 feet, yield wines of elegance and vigor. The annata is 90 percent Sangiovese and 10 percent Merlot, sourced from among 115 acres of vines farmed organically in poor sandstone soils that force the roots deep. The grapes are typically less concentrated and more fruity, making the wine perfect for immediate enjoyment. They are crushed and fermented in steel tanks, then aged in large Slavonian oak casks for 12 months. In 2021, the extraction was gentler, and at cooler temperatures, to avoid excess tannins, with the Merlot bringing aromatic complexity and additional fruit flavors. 14,000 cases imported.—Bruce Sanderson

Guillaume Roffiaen and a team of 15 agronomists work with the cooperative’s growers every week in the vineyards. (Lee Osborne)

6. NICOLAS FEUILLATTE

Brut Champagne Réserve Exclusive NV
91 points | $39 | France

Champagne’s leading cooperative, Nicolas Feuillatte, represents one of the region’s most consistent sources of quality and fair prices. As part of an organization encompassing 5,000 vine-growing members, chief winemaker Guillaume Roffiaen has access to fruit from 5,200 acres of vines spread throughout Champagne. Roffiaen and a team of 15 agronomists work with growers on a weekly basis in the vineyards, while also including members in tastings and offering classes in topics such as marketing and English throughout the year. Most winemakers create their introductory non-vintage bottlings, such as Feuillatte’s Réserve Exclusive, by starting with the wines from the newest harvest and later selecting complementary reserve wines to blend. Roffiaen flips the process: He begins by finding interesting reserve wines and then picks the blending wines from the new vintage. It’s an unconventional approach to the construction of the Réserve Exclusive, and it may just be the secret behind its success. 30,000 cases imported.—Alison Napjus

Diatom's Chardonnay hails from one of the coldest regions in California. (L. Britt)

7. DIATOM

Chardonnay Santa Barbara County 2022
92 points | $23 | California

Under his Brewer-Clifton label, Greg Brewer’s Chardonnays have long been intense, vibrant and expressive. His Diatom Chardonnay is just as precise and refined—but in an even more transparent way. As he puts it, he’s trying to capture Chardonnay before it becomes “something else.” That means the grapes are picked at night, pressed, cold-fermented in stainless steel and bottled early. Without the distractions of malolactic conversion, oak treatment or extended aging, this is one the most primal expressions of Chardonnay from one of the coldest regions in California. It’s also one of the most exciting white wines I reviewed last year—a restrained, savory and tightly wound bundle of mouthwatering energy. Minus any extra winemaking wizardry, the purity of Chardonnay under Brewer’s deft hand and minimalist approach has never been more thrilling, powerful or intense. 17,000 cases made.—M.W.

Rafael Cañizares has made it his life's work to spotlight Spanish culture and winemaking. (Courtesy of Bodegas Volver)

8. VOLVER

Alicante Tarima Hill Old Vines 2020
91 points | $20 | Spain

With his Volver project, owner Rafael Cañizares highlights under-the-radar regions along Spain’s southeastern seaboard, often with wallet-friendly price tags that attract wine lovers ready to explore. Volver is a family endeavor: Cañizares works alongside his father and children as they promote Spanish culture and some forgotten corners of the country with their wines. Many of the bottlings lean on old-vine vineyards—oftentimes abandoned sites restored with the support of Cañizares and Volver. The Tarima Hill Old Vines sources grapes from vines planted 50 to 75 years ago across multiple sites in the Alicante DO’s Vinalopó subzone. The wine is made from 100 percent Monastrell (Mourvèdre), a grape variety that thrives in this dry, hot inland area, but the vineyards’ high elevation (2,100 to 2,450 feet) preserves the balance of acidity and structure. 30,000 cases made, 10,000 cases imported.—A.N.

The St.-Cosme estate has been in the Barruol family since the 15th century. (Courtesy of St.-Cosme)

9. ST.-COSME

Côtes du Rhône 2022
90 points | $21 | France

Louis Barruol’s family acquired this estate in 1490, though its winemaking origins date back to Gallo-Roman times. Barruol is responsible for the domaine’s spectacular modern ascent, which is widely credited with elevating the Gigondas appellation as the star of the Southern Rhône. In addition to his estate wines and single-vineyard cuvées, Barruol crafts a range of delicious négociant wines, and his Côtes du Rhône is always a standout, delivering a lot of character and complexity for the price. Unlike most Côtes du Rhône reds, which are blends that rely primarily on Grenache, St.-Cosme’s version is made from 100 percent Syrah grown in stony, limestone-rich soils. This may help explain the wine’s combination of freshness, intensity and savory power, which nicely complements the ripe, sunny profile that is classic to Southern Rhône reds. 40,000 cases made, 23,300 cases imported.—Kristen Bieler

Tapiz’s owner Patricia Ortiz has been a pioneer of Argentinian wine. (Gustavo Sabez)

10. TAPIZ

Malbec Uco Valley Alta Collection San Pablo Vineyard 2021
90 points | $19 | Argentina

Exemplifying Argentina’s push to higher elevations for distinctive Malbec, this wine hails from the region of San Pablo, which ranges from 3,600 to 5,500 feet within the Andes foothills. Tapiz owner Patricia Ortiz, who has been growing grapes there for decades, is among the appellation’s chief pioneers and developers, aiding in it gaining Indicación Geográfica status in 2019. Marked by its sandy-loam soils and calcareous outcroppings, San Pablo is among Mendoza’s coolest wine-growing regions—and Tapiz’s property, at 4,500 feet, is among the highest in Mendoza. With a sizable estate containing 1,100 acres of sustainably farmed vineyards, winemakers Fabián Valenzuela and Jean-Claude Berrouet (of Bordeaux fame) are able to deliver a single-site expression of this unique region, noteworthy for its elegant yet well-structured, fresh and intensely aromatic wines. 11,000 cases imported.—Aaron Romano